Sims 3 serial number issues are disgusting

[NotTaquito66]

I don't know what I expected from a * company like EA. But it turns out you can be the original owner of a game, purchased many years ago, ever had only one Origin account, and have never entered the code before. Then, go to enter the code one day, and lo-and-behold it's 'already redeemed'. 

Customer support is absolutely useless, repetitively asking for outdated information like proof of purchase for a game from 12 years ago. Nevermind that it was purchased in cash, played off a disc years before Origin existed... meanwhile 12 years have gone by. According to EA you may as well have not bought their product and hey from now on I'll take that advice.

They should be absolutely ashamed that their page is filled with thousands of innocent people, many of whom are children, that they have taken advantage of. 10,000+ search results for people who are unable to enter their codes, often of games they bought new. Basically anyone who looks at their computer wrong is at risk of not being able to play their own Sims 3 game on their own Origin account. Disgusting business practices from the most exploitative gaming company in the world.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@NotTaquito66  You can run Sims 3 right off the disc too if your base game disc was manufactured prior to September 2012.  Only the newer copies require Origin.  You can also buy a copy of Sims 3 without an EA Play subscription; while Origin advertises the sub much more prominently than the standalone Sims 3 purchase, that's true for very new games too, and typical of any company that offers a subscription service.  There's always a "not interested?  buy game X" button below the EA Play ad.

@roberta591  There's no obvious indication the Sims 3 Store is shutting down, just that it's not being maintained as well as hoped, which has been true for several years.  You can still buy SimPoints through Origin, which is easily found with a cursory search:

https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/the-sims/the-sims-3/currency

I don't know what the store has to do with any of this.  Packs are bought through Origin (or Steam, or on disc), not the store, and that's also been true for a very long time.  Furthermore, EA just invested a lot of time and effort into creating a 64-bit version of Sims 3 for macOS, and it wouldn't make any sense to pull the plug on the game so soon afterwards.

[puzzlezaddict]

@NotTaquito66  Would you like help with your issue?  Among other things, it sounds like your base game disc is old enough that you wouldn't need to use Origin at all: you could install just via disc and run the game without Origin.

Whatever you think about EA, this is the kind of problem that happens to older games released before the introduction of a company's game launcher (Origin in this case).  It's unfortunate, and it would be nice if EA customer support had more ways to help people with very old copies of Sims 3.  But it's not a surprise.

[roberta591]

@NotTaquito66   When TS3 was released in 2009 it came with a download manager. But to download anything like the free city Riverview you had to register the game with EA. Then in 2012 the DRM that the game was released with was no longer supported by Microsoft or Apple. Yes there is SecuROM on the disc version and SafeDisc. In 2012 EA came out with Origin and TS3 was patched to disable SecuROM and SafeDisc and Origin was the DRM for TS3. As I wanted the free city so I registered my game and have never had an issue. Think of it like the consoles. Every time a new console comes out none of the previous games work on the new console. I'm going through that right now with my XBOX ONE. I have one game I have Wolfenstein Games for Windows - Games for Windows went dark years ago. I have Wolfenstein for XBOX 360. Doesn't run on XBOX ONE. I had to buy a Wolfenstein for PS3 on Ebay and that works (for now). My Bioshock for PC which introduced SecuROM no longer works on Windows 10. Oh and my MS Flight Sim X is Games for Windows. I now have the new Flight Simulator. The problem with that is you need a PC with some power to run it. No XBOX ONE version (yet). Here's some bad news - the Sims 3 store is shutting down. I just checked and it's still up if you have Sim points. I didn't check to see if you still can get Sim points but I'm guessing not. Just thought I'd let you know your not alone. Take care.

[NotTaquito66]

Thanks. I think the worst thing about it is that with other games I have, I can just play them right off the disk, no DRM. Age of Mythology has a serial code but it just checks that its a real one and then lets you install the game. Heroes of Might and Magic, Star Wars Battlefront I, basically the only other old games I have, both run of the disc, no management software needed. Ironically, the Sims game from that era, Sims 2, isn't even possible to buy anywhere, while you can buy all the above games on Steam... 

Where EA messed up is in pretending that they can 'help' when there are a lot of situations where they actually can't do anything other than aggravate you. I suppose you're right it is similar to consoles, except the difference is I could always buy a used version of my console if it breaks, log into my account and my games would be there ready to play. Not that I would buy it, but then EA also thinks that they should stop selling Sims 3 (as you said) and start selling their monthly plan where you then also have to buy Sims 3 on top of that (and presumably you can't play if you stop paying monthly?). It's ludicrous. 

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@NotTaquito66  You can run Sims 3 right off the disc too if your base game disc was manufactured prior to September 2012.  Only the newer copies require Origin.  You can also buy a copy of Sims 3 without an EA Play subscription; while Origin advertises the sub much more prominently than the standalone Sims 3 purchase, that's true for very new games too, and typical of any company that offers a subscription service.  There's always a "not interested?  buy game X" button below the EA Play ad.

@roberta591  There's no obvious indication the Sims 3 Store is shutting down, just that it's not being maintained as well as hoped, which has been true for several years.  You can still buy SimPoints through Origin, which is easily found with a cursory search:

https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/the-sims/the-sims-3/currency

I don't know what the store has to do with any of this.  Packs are bought through Origin (or Steam, or on disc), not the store, and that's also been true for a very long time.  Furthermore, EA just invested a lot of time and effort into creating a 64-bit version of Sims 3 for macOS, and it wouldn't make any sense to pull the plug on the game so soon afterwards.

[roberta591]

@puzzlezaddict When Alan Copeland left the Sims team in 2014 it seemed that the TS3 store suffered. It's been a long time since there is anything new. and there have been no TS3 patches for quite some time (years). I stand by my opinion the the TS3 store is in twilight. What I didn't say there was a definite date for shutdown. As long as EA is making money the store will continue to exist. EA tends to do things without much notice. I have seen some rumors but nothing substantial. Also the rumor that TS5 is in development could change many things. It would benefit EA to keep the store online as TS3 is still popular. Your right there is no "obvious" indication but if or when TS5 may be officially announced IMO TS3 will go like Games for Windows did. What would be prudent would be to download and backup store items. You should be backing up anyway.The problem with the pre 2012 TS3 disc is the game installs with SecuROM. Windows and macOS no longer support SecuROM. There is an Origin only patch that deactivates SecuROM and SafeDisk. SecuROM works like a rootkit (thank you very much Sony). With the TS3 Origin patch you no longer have a install limit and you don't need a disc in the rapidly disappearing optical drive. I see no down side of running TS3 under Origin.

.

[puzzlezaddict]

@roberta591  The downsides of Origin are 1) the frequently uncooperative pack selector; 2) the small but measurable overhead of the Origin install compared to the other types, which does matter with a 32-bit app; and 3) the inability of people who can't register their discs, for whatever reason, to play games they own, as is the case with the original poster.  I use a Steam install when playing for the first two reasons and am much happier with it than I am with the Origin install I also maintain for testing.

I'm aware of the DRM setup for disc installs and had one myself for years.  Steam has its own DRM as well, but I don't need to open Steam or be online while playing Sims 3, so it's a worthwhile tradeoff to me.  There are also a large number of players who have discs and Origin installs and and consistently choose to play through their discs.  It's a perfectly valid choice.

EA people have said in the past that we'll get plenty of notice when the Sims 3 Store shuts down.  While staff turnover means there's no absolute guarantee that the promise will be honored, it would not make sense from a customer relations standpoint to abruptly close a resource that is currently taking very little effort to maintain.  And I very much doubt the store would be taken offline while the game itself is still being sold in its present form.  Since Sims 3 now runs on current Macs, including ones with M1 chips, it seems the game has some time left as a viable product.